I had seen the drawings of Sher Khan walking away in the "Illusion of Life", where it was explained that Milt didn't use anything for reference when he animated this. He was so experienced in animal motion. Respect.

What's really killing me are all the holds in places like the body as the tiger is sitting. The line work has so much discipline in the application. I sweat blood just to get inbetweens that solid on held areas and others just sloppily work in the same areas and then wonder why their animation doesn't look as good as the greats. It's good control and good drawing. Wouldn't hurt to have the time to work on the animation like Milt did...nowadays it's everything in a 10th of the time wanting the same quality. =(

This scene is a masterful example of draftsmanship... Wrapping those stripes perfectly around the body as it moves and recedes in perspective... Kahl's animation from the 40s is a lot more impressive to me.

Take for instance this scene posted by Michael Sporn...http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/?p=2601

Here, we don't just have difficult volumetric drawing, there's rhythm, overlap, the element of surprise, perfectly clear staging (check out how the face is still clear in the stumble!), personality, the character's thought process, everything!

Everyone points to Kahl's 60s work as the peak of animation, and it certainly is from a draftsmanship viewpoint. But there's a lot more to animation than just really difficult drawing. In my opinion. Kahl's animation from the 40s was his best, particularly the spectacular animation of Br'er Fox, which no one ever talks about.

Don't you think it's a bit overly simplistic to believe that this only happened in the 40s? Also, there are a ton of people who talk about his work on Br'er Fox; it just depends on what type of people you are talking to..

.. again it comes down to taste.. You may believe strongly that his 40s work is his best; but that's entirely your opinion..

my opinion is that there are gems in his whole career.. and it's rather silly to approach an artist's work in terms of era..

"...from Planning to Polish..."

Are you a Pro...Student...Teacher...or Fan?

....my animation page on Vimeo & other goodies...

CONTACT & DONATE

Pencil Test Depot

This blog is for the people who love pencil tests. It can also be used as a resource for animators who are looking to study another animators work. Feel free to email me with pencil tests that you think should be posted here and we will review them and add them to the list.

I also want to say that we respect all the animators that are posted on this blog and it is in no way trying to gain anything from showing the pencil tests here except knowledge and inspiration. Animation has been a long passion for myself and the other authors of the blog. If any of the animators who are posted here feel that we should take the work down, we will do so immediately.